Zero Soul Power and Ninety-Ninth-Level Soul Power

The words on the wall of the sealed room were still crawling downward.

"The ones truly taken away were all the Blue Silver Grass in Holy Soul Village."

Xu Zhou stared at that sentence, the Black Ancient Book in his hand remaining unopened.

Footsteps sounded outside the wall.

"Has the record been completed?"

"The Soul Power fluctuations have been uploaded."

"Target status?"

"Suspected high-level Soul Master."

"Then prepare for transfer."

The voices came and went in fragments.

Xu Zhou glanced at the Soul Tool fragment on his wrist.

It was still hot.

The voice coming from it was not a branch hall deacon's. It was connected through the fragment to somewhere else.

Someone was watching this place remotely.

They had learned the result even earlier than the people outside.

Xu Zhou raised his hand and pressed down on the fragment.

The Black Ancient Book appeared on its own.

[Record conflict detected.]

[Sealed room test record: target Soul Power is zero.]

[Remote uploaded record: target Soul Power fluctuations reached Level Ninety-Nine.]

[The two records belong to the same moment.]

Xu Zhou lowered his head and smiled.

"Ninety-ninth level?"

These people really dared to write anything.

Yesterday, the metal disc had broken after reaching Level Ninety-Nine. Today, they were directly using that as the standard answer.

They did not care at all whether Xu Zhou actually had Soul Power.

They only wanted to prove that some power capable of threatening Spirit Hall existed within Xu Zhou.

Then they would send him somewhere bigger.

Preferably, with a few more accidents along the way.

"Open the door."

Xu Zhou walked to the door.

There was no response outside.

"The sealed room has completed its retest."

"We still need to wait for the hall master's orders."

"What did the hall master say?"

"We cannot tell you."

"Then why did you send me in?"

There was silence outside for a while.

"Xu Zhou, do not resist."

"Otherwise, you will be regarded as a dangerous Soul Master."

"Didn't you just say I had Innate Zero Soul Power?"

"That is only the surface information."

That answer sounded very familiar.

Xu Zhou raised the Black Ancient Book.

"When you investigate people, do you rely on records or guesses?"

No one outside spoke.

Xu Zhou placed the Soul Tool fragment from his wrist on the ground, then set the crystal ball and Soul Power lamp beside it.

The three objects were linked together by the Black Ancient Book.

A line of text appeared on its pages.

[Script Projection Enhancement available.]

[Projectable content: Innate Zero Soul Power, hidden Ninety-Ninth-Level Soul Power.]

[Projection targets: all observable targets.]

Xu Zhou raised his hand.

A translucent wave of Soul Power rose from the fragment.

It did not enter Xu Zhou's body.

Nor did it touch the Soul Power lamp.

It simply flowed out along the remote communication Soul Tool on the wall.

Outside the room, the detection record reappeared.

[Target Soul Power: zero.]

[No abnormal Soul Power detected within the target's body.]

[Previous Level Ninety-Nine fluctuation source: external Soul Tool.]

[Assessment: target cannot cultivate.]

Xu Zhou pressed the Black Ancient Book against the crystal ball again.

The pages turned.

A second projected record appeared.

[Target Soul Power: Level Ninety-Nine.]

[Danger level: highest.]

[Recommendation: report to headquarters immediately.]

The two records were sent out at the same time.

One said Xu Zhou was trash.

The other said Xu Zhou was a monster.

Now that was fair.

Someone outside panicked.

"How can there be two results?"

"Delete the first one!"

"It can't be deleted. It has already been sent into headquarters' archives."

"Then delete the second one!"

"The second one has already been sent out too."

"Who was responsible for uploading them?"

"You're asking me?"

An argument broke out outside the door.

Xu Zhou squatted on the ground and looked up at the Soul Tool on the wall.

So Spirit Hall's remote recording system was not as reliable as imagined either.

As long as two mutually contradictory answers appeared at the same time, no one would dare easily trust either one.

"Open the door."

Xu Zhou spoke again.

This time, the door opened.

Two deacons stood guard outside, both holding their Martial Souls.

Their movements were somewhat stiff as they looked at Xu Zhou.

Clearly, they did not know whether to treat Xu Zhou as an ordinary child with Innate Zero Soul Power or a dangerous Soul Master hiding Ninety-Ninth-Level Soul Power.

"What did you do?"

"I merely underwent the test."

"Why did headquarters receive two results?"

"Your Soul Tools sent them out themselves."

"Nonsense!"

"Then go inside and check."

The two deacons looked at each other.

Neither went in.

Xu Zhou walked out of the sealed room. The hall outside had already descended into chaos.

The hall master stood beneath the platform, clutching two records that had just arrived.

Yu Xiaogang and Tang San were still standing beside Xu Yan.

The Soul Tool fragment on Xu Yan's wrist no longer glowed.

After Xu Zhou interfered with it remotely, it had completely failed.

"Father."

Xu Zhou walked over.

Xu Yan glanced at his arm.

"Poisoned?"

"Mandrake Snake."

"You provoked them?"

"They came after me on their own."

"Then why did you run?"

"I couldn't outrun them, so I could only make them fight each other."

Xu Yan nodded.

"You did the right thing."

The brief exchange between father and son made Yu Xiaogang frown.

"Have you forgotten the important part?"

"What important part?"

"All the Blue Silver Grass in Holy Soul Village has been taken away."

Xu Yan's fingers twitched.

"All of it?"

"A message Ah Yin sent back."

Xu Zhou handed the withered blade of grass to Xu Yan.

Xu Yan took it, gently rubbing the blade between his fingers.

"Then this is troublesome."

This was the first time Xu Yan had shown such an expression.

Xu Zhou did not ask any further questions.

The less his father wanted to say, the more complicated the matter was.

"What is so special about the Blue Silver Grass in Holy Soul Village?"

Tang San asked.

Xu Yan looked at him.

"Ordinary Blue Silver Grass has no Soul Power and is worthless."

"Why would Spirit Hall take it away?"

"Because someone told them that Ah Yin's consciousness can transfer through the Blue Silver Grass Network."

Xu Yan paused.

"As long as they dig up all the Blue Silver Grass in the village, Holy Soul Village will lose its source of information."

Xu Zhou picked up the thread.

"They are not studying Blue Silver Grass."

"They want to sever Ah Yin's connection with the outside world."

Yu Xiaogang looked toward the hall master.

"What do you intend to do to Ah Yin?"

The hall master finally spoke.

"We are merely investigating a special plant."

"Ah Yin is a Soul Beast."

Tang San's voice lowered.

"She has already regained her consciousness."

The hall master neither admitted nor denied it.

The people in the hall gradually fell silent.

Everyone understood what the name Ah Yin represented.

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

The Blue Silver Emperor.

Tang Hao's wife.

Fans of the original knew even better.

If this information got out, Spirit Hall, the Clear Sky Sect, and all sorts of transmigrators would make their move.

"Where is Ah Yin now?"

Xu Zhou asked.

The hall master looked at him.

"That is not something you should know."

"Then why was my father captured?"

"He is connected to the Blue Silver Grass Network in Holy Soul Village."

"He knows Ah Yin's location?"

"He refuses to reveal it."

Xu Zhou nodded.

"I understand."

"What do you understand?"

"You still haven't found her."

The hall master's fingers stopped moving.

Xu Zhou continued, "If you had already found Ah Yin, there would be no need to interrogate my father. Right now, you only know that Holy Soul Village has a Blue Silver Grass Network, but you don't know where its core is."

"So you dug up all the Blue Silver Grass."

"You wanted to force her to reveal herself by cutting off the network."

Several stewards in the hall lowered their heads.

Their reactions had already revealed the answer.

The Black Ancient Book flipped open.

[The hall master believes the host cannot determine Ah Yin's location.]

[Judgment error.]

[Cognitive Bias collected.]

Soul Power flowed into his body.

Xu Zhou looked beyond the doors.

"The ones you dug up were only the Blue Silver Grass in the village."

"The true Blue Silver Emperor isn't in the village."

The hall master stared at him.

"You know where she is?"

"I don't."

"Then what were you saying just now?"

"A guess."

The hall master's expression darkened.

"Take Xu Yan away."

Two guards immediately stepped forward.

Tang San blocked their path.

"You promised that as long as Xu Zhou completed the retest, you would release him."

"The retest results are disputed."

"A dispute you created yourselves."

"Tang San, this is Spirit Hall."

Tang San raised his right hand.

Blue Silver Grass grew from the ground and wrapped around the two guards' ankles.

"This is also Notting City."

Yu Xiaogang set Luo Sanpao down on the floor.

Luo Sanpao had yet to recover. The moment he stood up, he swayed twice.

"Luo, luo."

Yu Xiaogang's Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet.

His first Soul Ring flashed.

A circle of yellow light immediately erupted from Luo Sanpao's body.

Xu Zhou glanced at it.

Yu Xiaogang's soul skill had clearly changed from before.

It was no longer just farting.

The airflow released by Luo Sanpao did not rush toward the guards. Instead, it formed a thin mist that obscured everyone's vision in the hall.

"Take Xu Yan and leave."

Yu Xiaogang's voice came from within the mist.

Xu Zhou grabbed his father.

Tang San covered their retreat.

The three of them rushed toward the side door.

But after taking only two steps, Xu Zhou's Black Ancient Book began flipping violently.

A line of blood-red text floated over its pages.

[Detected massive Soul Power fluctuations coming from the direction of Holy Soul Village.]

[The Blue Silver Grass Network is being forcibly awakened.]

[Source: beneath the Notting City Spirit Hall Branch.]

Xu Zhou stopped.

"Underground?"

Xu Yan looked up.

"They brought the Blue Silver Grass here."

"What?"

"It was impossible for all the Blue Silver Grass in the village to have been dug up."

Xu Yan stared at the Black Ancient Book.

"At least one plant was brought into Spirit Hall."

Xu Zhou turned and looked toward the depths of the hall.

A faint tremor came from underground.

A stalk of Blue Silver Grass stained with soil pushed out from between the floor tiles.

There was no note on its blade.

Only a drop of blood.

That drop of blood fell onto Xu Zhou's black book.

The next moment, every light went out at once.

In the darkness, Ah Yin's voice came from underground.

"Xu Zhou, don't let them open the second layer of the seal."